The role of potentiating mutations in the evolution of pandemic Escherichia coli clones

Abstract

The Escherichia coli species exhibits a vast array of variable lifestyles, including environmental, commensal, and pathogenic organisms. Many of these E. coli contribute significantly to the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Multidrug-resistant (MDR) clones of E. coli have arisen multiple times over varying timescales. The repeated emergence of successful pandemic clones, including the notorious ST131 lineage, highlights a desperate need to further study the evolutionary processes underlying their emergence and success. Here, we review the evolutionary emergence of E. coli ST131 pandemic clones and draw parallels between their evolutionary trajectories and those of other lineages. From colonization and expansion to the acquisition of multidrug resistance plasmids, potentiating mutations are present at each stage, leading to a proposed sequence of events that may result in the formation of an antimicrobial-resistant pandemic clone.

Pangenome evolution in Escherichia coli is sequence type, not phylogroup, specific

“…In these cases, the sequence diversity was attributed to differential evolution whereby selection for a process (enhanced anaerobic metabolism capabilities) rather than selection for a gene was occurring. Metabolic flexibility has also been proposed as a precursory stage to multidrug resistance [17]. We could conceivably extrapolate our findings, such as our observed diversity in a fructose metabolism gene within an ST-core genome, as a potential signature of an evolutionary selection pressure.…”

“…Allelic diversity as a signature of selection has now also been observed in ST167 [15] and ST410 [16]. Allelic variation in metabolic genes has been described as an early warning sign of multidrug resistance with metabolic flexibility potentially being a key trait in multidrug resistant clones [17]. ST131 is one of the few E. coli STs to have undergone detailed pangenome analysis [14; 18; 19].…”

Antimicrobial Resistance and Prevalence of Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli from Dogs and Cats in Northeastern China from 2012 to 2021

“…MDR is defined as non-susceptible to at least one agent in three or more antimicrobial categories [ 6 ]. MDR pathogens can cause more severe, longer-lasting infections and ultimately have global pandemic potential [ 7 ]. E. coli resistance to β-lactams is usually associated with plasmid-mediated extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) [ 8 ].…”

Pathogenicity Islands in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Clinical Isolate of the Globally Disseminated O25:H4-ST131 Pandemic Clonal Lineage: First Report from Egypt

“…The ST131- H 30Rx clade was found to possess a greater fitness in comparison with other E. coli , allegedly controverting the long-established view that high levels of antibiotic resistance are compulsorily related to a fitness cost that minimizes the successful colonization of the host [ 25 ]. In accordance with this finding, besides its acquisition of various antibiotic resistance genes, EC14142 is heavily shaped by a variety of virulence factors-encoding genes that are located sporadically on its chromosome, EGY_EC14142 ( Figure 1 , Table 2 ).…”